Tour de France 2012: Stage four preview

The kind of stage that could spell danger. A glance at the route map reveals that, for a little over 100km, the road hugs the coast. And that means there’s a high possibility of crosswinds.

From Le Tréport, after 33km, all the way along the Côte d’Albâtre to Fécamp, after 140km, the riders will have to be alert to any teams that might fancy lining it out in the gutter and splitting the race into echelons.

The only factor that might count against this is the distance to the finish in Rouen from Fécamp.